inahandbasket

[rant]

of course the new iPod that plays video has spawned a million and one articles about how groundbreaking it is to be able to take video with you, lots of 'how-to's', countless bits of commentary about how this new ability to take video with you will cause disruption in the current paradigms of video, tv, and broadcasting, and how video-podcasting is the next great thing.

Give me a fucking break.
Portable music/video players are nothing new, they've been on the mass market for almost 2 years now in the states. It will not affect current broadcasting at all, and it's not revolutionary. And, as usual, other companies are doing this far better than Apple. Hell, the iPod doesn't even support DivX. Weak. It's another case of "me too" from the company who claims to "think different."

And as a matter of fact, most reviews of it are saying that it's really not even very good for video!

You want portable video? here, check these out.
creative zen vision. bigger better screen, more formats, far better bundled software.
Cowan iaudio X5. similar form factor, way more formats, higher quality build and far better quality sound. (on my xmas wishlist.)
Archos AV420 (and other models from archos.) Hell, this one will RECORD video from any source as well as play it. Again, more formats, better quality.

ok, I'm done.
[/rant]

Ok, fine. so if you've got a mac, the iPod is pretty much the only game in town that works well.
I'm ok with that.
And honestly it's not a bad piece of hardware. I'm impressed with how thin they managed to make it without sacrificing too much battery life. And if you like iTunes (i hate it) then it's about the only music player that sync's with itunes.

So go for it. Just stop telling me it's revolutionary, new, amazing, and the best portable music player in the world.
Because it's none of the above.